The Meaning of Anti

....Tampomas Jaya is the most famous noodle vendor in Western Java and Batavia.....(Tampomas Jaya - I)

Allah the Almighty with a perfect decision created the world. There is a big and there is a small one, there is a beautiful and there is an ugly one, there is good smell and bad smell, and there is a few and a many as well. Even in the noodle business, there is the big giant vendor who cover the Western Java and Batavia area, in the contrary there is a small or tiny Noodle vendor and just a little of us know where about.

...reading is the key to see the world out there
therefore illiteracyis our biggest enemy...

This story began by a crooks-headquarter-look-alike hut in the corner of small and slum path near my in-de koost house in Jatinangor Darussalam. Filthy, I saw only a not-very bright-lamp and one transistor Philips radio made in Dutch, the old school version! The original land-floored and zinc-roofed has made this warung getting slummier. Nevertheless, there is a saying in the noodle-house world, "The dirtier the vendors the better taste its noodle..."

Therefore, to maintain the justice, I didn’t go to the Tampomas Jaya for a week and change my direction to this little noodle-house. As usual, the noodle-house boy came from Sumedang Village, too bad I don’t remember his name by now. He always tidy looks, with mandarin haircut ala Aaron Kwok, a famous film star from Hong Kong.

"Mangga a "*
"OK...just like usual..."
"Ok a..."**

The illiterate Aaron Kwok***

Then I get the bala2* binti ba'wan...kremoes...with a raw rawit-chili in my mouth, it made all my hair rose to the sky. Then I got a very itchy feeling because I have so many dandruff on my head! The damned dandruff that ruined my life for a long time!

"He kid....are you an anti-Koempeni or not ?" I asked him suddenly....
"What kind of Anti a...?"
"That Anti...not like to someone or something..."
"Ooo...that’s the meaning of Anti though..."

What ? It means there is someone who doesn’t understand the meaning of anti ? What a f….., I bet this kid cannot read either....

"Hey you kid, can you please read the used newspaper there for me ? Yes, that paper , the ex-wrapper of your bala-bala, it seems the news is quite interesting for me though..." I started to bait...

This boy started to get nervous, his mimic reflecting the mix between ‘want to go to have a big shit and want to masturbate himself’ because a very shameful feeling....

Bloody hell! This kid is just so not-reflecting his look; his look is excellent but not worth with his ‘head capacity’, even an simple word of anti he didn’t understand at all. How come he can understand something if he cannot read at all ? All of you have been known for a long time that reading is the window to the world !

I feel pity for him, he covered his dumb by his look. What a look is for, if you cannot read even a single word ? What your Aaron Kwok-Haircut is for, if you don’t understand the meaning of Anti ? Who’s to blame ? The Government ! This is the obligation of Government to provide a literacy program to its peoples !

This illiteracy kid lived nearby the center of Pasundan land, Parijs Van Djava ! What in the hell Government do so far ? Not to mention a Big University has already been found just before this illiteracy kid ! The clear useless things before our very eyes.....

Koeaingdibatjakeunsiah!
...the more reading the more writing....

*here it is brother
** yes brother
*** taken from provocateuse.com

Instant Noodle of Tampomas Jaya

“...simple recipe can make your man’s stomach happy...err...an inch below to be exact...." [The sacred love recipe of Roro Mendhut]

Pronocitro, a prince charming was the victim of Roro Mendhut’s recipe, as well as other thousands men. It just a cigarette, all used cigarette from Roro Mendut will be a precious thing. All men fight to get that cigarette. The shorter the cigarette the heavier the price. All those men want to feel the taste of Roro mendut’s saliva, yes, if you cannot get the lips; it is fine to get the saliva....

...instant noodle with egg and pepper will make your tongue dancingwildly...

Koeaing! The modern-say Pronocitro is a food-lover either. The Javanese call it by term of Keplek ilat, the Betawie call it by goyang lidah, in English term it is like ‘a dancing tongue’. Moreover, how to make our tongue dancing? It is very simple actually, just get the noodle, yes you are right, the Chinese flour with long-form made! Talking about noodle, it means we talk about Indomie, the most famous one here in Oost-Indie.

Indomie has a trickle down-effect to make a living for millions peoples. You can easily find the Indomie vendors around Betawi Raya and Pasundan land. I don’t have any idea how the Indomie vendors are hardly to find in Eastern and middle Java Provinces. Accidentally, mostly the owners of Indomie Vendors are from Kuningan or Sumedang, two cities of Pasundan Land.

One of them is Tampomas Jaya group. I think this is the biggest one around Pasundan and Betawi. Tampomas itself is a volcano around Sumedang district. It was the name of a sinking ship years ago in Masalembo strait as well.

My first contact with this vendor is when I was a student of Padjadjaran University in Jatinangor Darussalam. As you know, we student doesn’t have much money to buy a thing. Therefore, the only way to get the good and delicious food with less money is Indomie vendor. The price is affordable to us.

lekkeeeeeer....

I go to Tampomas Jaya almost every single night. The place was so strategic, before the University entrance. Because I was the Frequent and loyal visitor, the little boy who guard that vendor has known me completely inside and outside....

"Like usual big bro...........?"
"Yes....do not forget to plunge directly the rawit chili right to the boiling water..."
"Consider it done bro....I guarantee myself it will be delicious, nothing’s compare to it..."

You cannot forget the rawit chili if you want to eat the most delicious noodle...

"With egg bro?”
"You don’t have to ask for it, you knew it...."

The second secret is the egg; you get the gurih-taste more if you add the egg to the noodle, beside it is important to get some added nutrient for a poor student like me....

"Ari sawinya kumaha ?"*
"Just add it more kid..."

Sawi vegetable has an attractive and decorative function to the food, it makes you want to eat as there is something greenly there....

Set...bret...bret...bret.....the skillful hands of Encep start to work, I don’t’ have any idea how many times he doing this. Maybe thousands time, repeatedly. He does the same work every night, from six in the morning up to midnight, or from midnight to the next six in the evening, because the Tampomas Jaya open steadily full 24 hours. So, if you find yourself starving at anytime, just go to Tampomas Jaya .

The Bagong chili sauce --which peoples say it made from rotten cassava and papayas— was the most delicious one, according to my tongue! It is getting delicious if you add the pepper-flour on it! Hmmmmm....the deliciousness of the secret recipe-formula can be compare with the Chinese Emperor’s Chef ! The secret of this recipe is on the ultimate mix of three main seasoning, two parts of Bagong chili sauce, one part of sweet soya bean sauce and two parts of pepper-flour......you can try this at home soon !

My favorite noodle is chicken curry. It is just fit with my tongue, the seasoning comes from India and of course, The Javanese has made some conversions here and there. Gurih, hot, fatty....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......just like tasting the wine -river of Heaven.....

How about you pal ? Chicken curry or Chicken onion ? Chicken Soto or Beef Meatball ?

Koeaingdimiehkeunsiah!
More Chinese than Chinese
*Sundanese : What about the sawi leave big bro ?

Music makes life happier !

Music is the universal language, I am listening MUSE, Obituary and seurieus while I am writing. I like so many different music, range from keroncong to death metal. From dangdut to classical orchestra. R&B is the only kind of music that I hate the most, I don’t know why. I think the black music is far away different these days compare to their old one. I like the old black music, they generate great musician like James Brown, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, and it was undeniable that they were genius in music. But at present days, their children has ruined all they have achieved by creating the trash music called by R&B. This is not even music, it is just a bunch of gangsters, pimps, and whores unite in the lusty world. If I have to kill one R&B singer, I would be glad to do it, mostly the one who wear under pant on his head, let me kill him, free of charge!

...this world consists of musical compositions only we listen to it or not doyou?

Music, for me is emotional thing, it has to touch my feeling, whether my romantic feeling or even my anger. If I listen to Simon & Garfunkel, Lobo, Bread or John Denver, their smoothness, empathy, and love touch my soul. Nevertheless, if I listen to Manowar, Metallica, or Obituary, my spirit arises as if my blood run up trough my head...there’s so many fires there! One thing you must remember if there is songs that can make you cry it means it has a healing power to your agony. For instance is Bread’s IF, not to mention Lady of Dream from John Anderson and Kitaro. I bet you can cry loudly after listen to Simon & Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes! I have a good advice for you; do not ever listen to those songs while you are broken hearted! It leads you to suicide instead of healing your pain!

It is no wonder if we see how music becomes a prayer to the Lord. The Moslems give their prayer some rhythms mostly in Qur’anic reading. From the easiest to the hardest, (you will need an iron lung to do the hardest way). Something is more touching if we change it to some singings. That way, the religion’s moral values can easily run trough our souls...directly or not....

Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana

I have my musical activities since I was in my Junior High School. I started with Deep Purple’s songs but before it, I listened to Queen, Scorpion, and Lobo, because my elder brothers and sisters played those songs often. Deep Purple’s Highway Star makes me thrilled even now, this song has a deep emotion in my soul, the tempo and beat just match with my youth soul! I carried my Deep Purple’s cassette and played it loud in the middle of our school’s library! What a crazy boy! You can imagine, when we are in the library, we supposed to be silent, even you cannot speak to others in high tone, but I played music loudly instead! Guess what? Everybody definitely was getting mad on me. Did I change my habit? NOT at all! I didn’t care even finally my teachers came up...I still don’t understand up to now, how crazy I was!

I played guitar as well in this age, started the Malay songs such as Search’s Isabella. Moreover, the D-day has come finally; I played a band with my companies. My activities was just music ever since. Playing guitar from maghrieb time to midnight, everyday, seven days a week, 30 days a month and 365 days a year! I do it during these 21 years more! Up to now! Remarkable! Do I bored or something? NO, that’s because the magic of music.

I had two different bands when I was in my senior High School! The band played kroncong and the other played death metal! I played bass-cello and 3-snare ukulele, we call ukulele as cuk! While in my death metal band, I played rhythm guitar and sing! You can give your imagination how complex I was. We played Miss Waljinah’s 'Mawar Biru’, but the other night I probably played Sodom, terrorizer or Napalm Death’s songs! It was like heaven and earth, far away different way of music, but I like them all no matter what!

After I became a University student, I found that the death metal fans were just a little in amount. However, the show must go on, I had to be flexible, so I started to sing Nirvana’s songs. Our band -- Donal bebek, has played most of their songs. I wanted to play weezer or Beatles badly, but what I can say I just lost those opportunities...my bands ruined and my friend found their own life. My ex-guitarist has some printing company in Yogyakarta, my ex-drummer (there are three of them) one becomes The Coca cola’s company employee, the other one I lost my connection and his news, and the last one is the only one who still playing music. He is the drummer of Minoru, some Japanese Rock band.

As a band boy, I can feel the ultimate satisfaction when I am on stage. It is when the crowds are going crazy we call it by headbang. I experience some remarkable moment once, friend of mine, she hates rock music actually but she cannot afford to have her headbang when I sang my Nirvana’s songs. I played bass and sing at that time, I broken my bass snare it was because I played it hard. My guitarist had the same experience he broken most off all his snares. My drummer broken his cymbal as well! What song of nirvana could lead us to hysterical actions? SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT! Their greatest song forever!

koeaing!
Miss the stage actions

There is always a giant among us

Ever since God made this universe, there is always a balance between the good and the bad. Our great grand father, Adam, teased by the Devil, and given some good advices from angel either. If you do the good things, you probably enter the heaven, vice-versa if you do the bad things you just enter the hell easily! In the politics world we know the opposition side, it said clearly as the opposite side, the idea is we need a balance circumstances in this world. Nothing is forever in this world, within the white power there is black power, even a little, it works as the opposite way...

...we live in the middle of good and bad peoples
therefore
face it !

As a social creature, we live among others, and there are good and bad persons for sure. Those two attitudes are within us. The Pandawa’s won’t become the white knights if there was no bad Kurawa’s ! The only problem is, that differences between good and bad are too far, and that’s certainly makes us wonder if there is such a very bad or very good person in this world? The answer is : IT IS!

Nobita has an asshole friend named by GIANT! He likes to kick his own friend ass even without any reasons before! Sure Nobita didn’t have any guts to make it even, not too mention Giant’s body as big as buffalo. All of us, since we have known others – I underline since we were in the kindergarten— must have the bad friend as Giant! I have no experiences of kindergarten school, so I just draw you my elementary school experiences. I had a very bad friend named Soeparman a.k.a nDhoklok (read like 'o' in ‘problem’). This boy had a bigger body than his levels, because he entered the elementary school late! He should in the 4th grade instead of 1st grade.

Those bad things came after this bastard was pointed as our class-head! One thing for sure, things started too gloomy ever since. Just like what Lord Acton cited "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupt absolutely", and this nDhoklok was a perfect example of Lord Acton’s theory. He got the power, bigger body than his levels; to be frank it was just too perfect! If I may describe for what he did by his absolute power in words, it would be just too mean. He didn’t hesitate to spit other kids, to their mouth directly! The method is first he grabbed our arms until we could not move at all, and then he pushed our mouth to open ands 'crooot !" His saliva poured to our mouth like the Indian Cobra’s poison!

Saliva was just one of his torture tools, the other tool was hot balm...you have already know how hot it is to our skin. It was more sadistic than before! He could give this hot balm to other kids’ eyes for fun! You can imagine how those unlucky kids cried loudly

Did this 'giant' stop after our elementary school years over? NO HE DIDN'T! When I was in my Junior High, I met the other Giants! This time named Rober, Yes, that was his name. His father might not understand English words; just pick an ‘ear-catching’ word because he was born in ROmadhon and octoBER months! Watricht !

Nobita....

Because this kid as big as Samson, while the others as small as dwarf – dwarfs who liked to play in the field-movie held by Jamu Tjap Djago vendor— so he easily terrorizing us ! If anyone dares to challenge his order, then his hands, legs or other tools move as fast as Zeus does to kick our butts! Plak! Boekk ! Blesss....!!! Lucky for me, he was good in beating someone’s ass but not in his head. He counted on me for home works, or other intelligent things. It was good for me to stay from his cruelness away...

After I went to Senior High in Solo, there were so many giants in this school anyway! From seniors, my levels or even my juniors! Sadewo a.k.a mbako was one of our giant, he was in our same level. We named him as mbako (Javanese: tobacco) because he had hair like lesser tobacco, curl and bad smell. He got small body but awesome guts! I saw he fought with senior giant once. His name was Doni, his body as big as school doors! However, mbako didn’t get scared, even a little. He even gave his bad words while he fought! Whatta boy ! Another moment, I saw this boy was asked to go out from the classroom –in the middle of class hour – by a senior giant named Agus Mansion (because he was very found of drunk of Mansion House liquor)

+ Sir, can I talk with Sadewo for a moment?
- Ooo...sure you can...but don’t take too long....

Mbako then got from the class out to meet him, but what happened there was very surprisingly! He was not even to say a word when his face was punched by Agus mansion! As a giant too, mbako did his jobs well, he then gave Agus a punch as well...bak...buk! The teacher and other kids just saw it happened speechlessly! God damn them!

When I was in my college time, I was becoming one of these giants! Hehehhe...at least I fought with other giants twice a month...I have been fought versus two giants from Palembang....Bak! Boek ! Prot !! Their names were Faisal and Hakim. I was on the top at that time because they were in the middle of buzzed-out by Aceh marijuana. You know if someone buzzed-out by this thing they can not focus in doing something....Let say the gave us two punches and I gave them back four or five punches. What a shame, two giants from senior and junior class beaten by me, myself only in one moment. Luckily, for them...before anything went too far Gusur saved their ass! Gusur was the most senior Giant…

That’s all, in every moment of our life there will be a giant around; you’d better watch your ass!

Koeaing!
Giant with Nobita’s face and Shizuka as his wife

The thin line between heaven and hell

.....for thou loyal ones, be understood, the gate between heaven and hell is called by sirotol musstakiem , it is as thin as hair divided to seven pieces, just like the sharpest digger.........( one of the elder Soma's speeches )

Ithink I have been in that gate. This happened when I was young a long time ago. I was a college student, liked to have some quest everywhere I like. Therefore one day, bro Yanto, one of my friends who interested in martial art and spiritual studies, asked me to joint him to go to some Islamic service called by one hundred day commemoration of the death.

...man tends to look for what he/she likes in a very shortmoment...

"Brother koeaing, you have your skill on Qur'anic reading, even your voice can be matched with Brother Nanang Khosim, may I ask you to go along with me this Saturday night ?.....of course to commemorate the one hundred days of my friend's father death "
"My gosh.....to be honest, do you think so, my voice as good as the world champion of the Qur’anic reading ? You must be joking then....but OK, I'll joint you bro..." reply me with my face was glowing like red lamp....

So the story was began, like no other days, that time I did the right thing, reading the Holy Qur'an. We went to the Matesih district soon, where the commemoration was being held. It was a village, a fully traditional village with the houses was still in joglo style, with the finest jati wood. What the....?? the late must be a wealthy one when he lived....

After we got to that house, many peoples have attended. Just like the rich Javanese do, the house has spacious guest rooms, in and outside the house, ala peasant style. Spacious room is the main idea, even if you do not have any room to sleep, it just does not matter for peasant, they could sleep everywhere. Nevertheless, one thing we did not understand about, so many peoples in the outside guest room, faced the short jati wood table.

Usually the table is for the snack and food place, but sometimes peoples use this for casino table as well. Casino ? isn't that gambling ? I thought that you just said that you went to the religious teaching didn't you ? YOU ARE RIGHT brother, I didn't lie to you at all, because I looked by my own eyes, someone has provided the remie cards, domino ,tjap djie, all gambling stuffs we all known ever and widely used in rural Javanese area.

I've been there....

So, you jumped in to that gambling party ? of course not....me and my friends sat in the 'inner' guest room, which consists of four mini 'so called casino table', if you don’t mind to compare to tens of mini casino table at the outside guest room ! Basically, man tends to go to hell than heaven....that thing I don't understand at all.

Therefore, I tell you the truth what really happened that night one single house was used to be a gambling house and religious teaching at once ! And you know what ? The best part is the two sides of gambler and religious people competed each other to have higher voices, the religious party increased their surah Yassien reading, the other increased their pangkur jenggleng singing !

You all have known that a story is not interesting at all without the strange things....let me bring you the weird ones. One of our heavenly people, known as brother Bagero --this man is bro Yanto's eldest brother himself-- has made us humiliated. Why ? because in the middle of our competition versus the hell club, without any predictions before, that bastard slowly moved to another quadrant, yes that Bagero moved to the outsiders, alias followed the ahlul naar party ! Astaghfirullahalaziieem.....

In very short moment, we had loose one man, tempted to follow the gambling party. How could he ? I mean he just had holy words, and now he was laughing loudly and singing along the pangkur jenggleng song, the hymn of Javanese gamblers. Right to "the jenggleng part" they had their backs got down together....it was awesome indeed !

The moral of the story is, whatever the way you choose, still you have to make it interesting. Ahlul naar has their pangkur jenggleng, while the ahlul jannah did not have any interesting one to show even a little. Show me if you look someone read Surah Yassien while his back gets down ? except you are in trance....

Koeaing!
Is there any the jenggleng yassien readers ?